


A Piano Recital

by Marely4



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Child Harry Potter, Childhood, Fluff, Gen, Good Dudley Dursley, Good Petunia Dursley, Growing Up, Harry is a Good Friend, Kindness, Nice Dudley Dursley, Nice Petunia Dursley, Nice Vernon Dursley, POV Alternating, POV Dudley Dursley, POV Harry Potter, POV Petunia Evans Dursley, Pre-Canon, Slice of Life, Understanding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:27:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25112371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marely4/pseuds/Marely4
Summary: Growing up with a sister like Lily isn't easy. But Petunia makes the best of what she is given.Or: Sometimes one evening can lead to a realization that alters the course of history. Because Petunia Evans is human. And she loves her sister.
Relationships: Petunia Evans Dursley/Vernon Dursley
Comments: 15
Kudos: 186





	A Piano Recital

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there,
> 
> I have always wondered what happened to make Petunia as bitter towards her sister as she is in canon. This is kind of a fix-it. As in, what if Petunia didn't become resentful of Lily?
> 
> There is no bashing in this fic. However, it might seem a little biased. Please keep in mind that neither Vernon nor Petunia were ever in Hogwarts. Their knowledge about the relationship between Lily, James and Severus is second hand and incomplete. Vernon meets the Marauders exactly once.
> 
> I tried to keep in canon as much as is possible with the little I know about Petunia and Lily's childhood.
> 
> Also - I had no idea there were so few positive tags for the Dursleys.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Petunia Evans is three years old when her sister is born. Lily becomes the focal point of her world. Everyone loves the cheerful child with her bright hair and bright eyes and bright smile. Lily is intelligent and kind and _special_.  
Petunia loves her sister. There is something about her, that makes everybody smile.

But as they both get older, things change. Lily meets a boy who says he is special like her. Petunia doesn't see it. His name is Severus Snape and he wears rags and a scowl and makes nobody but Lily smile. He is mean too, making fun of Petunia and calling her _ordinary_.  
Still, she watches her sister fly instead of fall, watches her make flowers bloom in winter, watches as butterflies land on her arms when she whispers to them and watches her make bright lights illuminate the sky.

Petunia still loves her sister. But now that love is accompanied by an ugly feeling. Sometimes she looks at beautiful, cheerful Lily and wants to grab her and shake her and scream to the world that _wonderful_ Lily isn't _perfect_.  
_Look at me, LOOK at me!_ she wants to shout.

So Lily was born with a special talent - _magic_ says Severus and the letter she receives at eleven confirms it. Petunia writes to the headmaster of Lily's new school but is told she cannot attend. Because she isn't _special_ , cannot do _magic_ , is _ordinary._  
Petunia wants to scream. Nobody else around her is special like Lily. What is it about being the normal sister of a special little girl that translates to Petunia being _ignored_? Always shoved aside in favor of perfect Lily Evans. Everyone else gets praised for good grades, a lovely singing voice or a talent for dancing. Only Petunia never seems to measure up, can never compare to the wonder that is Lily. The worst part is, that Petunia still loves her sister.

She resents her sister then, sometimes late at night when she lies awake in bed and imagines what life in a castle must be like. And hates herself for it. She stops trying to shine, stops trying to keep up with Lily and snaps at her sister when she comes home – full of wonderful tales about moving staircases, flying horses and a forbidden forest. She is jealous of something she should know nothing about. Had Lily just been a normal child she would have never yearned to see a unicorn for herself.  
Petunia listens, scowling, as Lily talks excitedly about the school houses, her new schoolmates, who are all just as _special_ as her.

She listens to Lily's complaints about those boys in her house, who strut around the school and keep picking on poor Severus.  
Privately she thinks it serves him right. All those years seeing her as someone inferior to him because she can't do magic. Well, now that he is surrounded by others who can all do magic, he gets to experience what it is like to be looked down on for something he cannot help.  
She is fifteen then and spitefully angry at the people around her.

Things change when Petunia is seventeen. Lily is in her forth year of magic school and home for Christmas. Their parents decide to take them to a piano recital.  
Petunia isn't thrilled. She is already fed up because of the pride that shines in her parents' eyes when they look at Lily – they never look at her that way and she _hates_ it – and Lily insists on bringing Severus along.  
But that evening changes Petunia's life in a way she will never know. (In a different life she might have refused to accompany her family and it would have ruined the lives of two innocent children. But she doesn't. She goes with them.)

Petunia sits and is enchanted by the music. There is a ten year old boy, looking small and frightened in front of the giant piano, but when he starts to play … oh ... his fingers fly across the keyboard, his body sways with the music, his expression shifts into something focused and elated and _beautiful_. And Petunia can't breathe.

Later she lies in her bed and remember the music. That boy, so talented, so young. And something inside her clicks. Something shifts and she suddenly understands with such _clarity_. Her sister is special, has been born with magic, a talent, that other children share with her – but not the majority. In the end she is no different to a child talented in music or dancing or painting or anything else. It is rare, which is what makes it special and noteworthy. But it doesn't diminish Petunia's worth as a person.  
Her sister might be one of those rare prodigies – if a witch could be called that – but Petunia is smart herself. Maybe not a genius, but smart and she likes talking and knitting and entertaining her girlfriends. She is going to make her own life, away from her sister's world that she will never be a part of. Maybe, just maybe it has never been her fault, maybe she should have never tried to get the same kind of attention Lily always seems to draw. Maybe her parents are the ones who should have showed her that she deserves to be praised too.  
Petunia doesn't know, it doesn't matter either. She is seventeen, smart and beautiful in her own way. She is going to find a husband and have at least one child. And if she ever has more than one she will make sure to support each of them the way every child deserves. No child of hers will ever feel inadequate.

~ o ~

Meeting Petunia Evans is the best thing that ever happens to Vernon Dursley. Most everything good that happens in Vernon's can be attributed to Petunia. Not that he knows that when he meets her. He is smitten with Petunia, the girl he first sees when she is comforting a child that has fallen from their bike. She's pretty and smart and her smile hides a core of steel that takes him years to truly understand. Petunia is different from other young women her age. Her unique way of looking at things changes Vernon's own perspective. And he loves her for it.

Petunia tells him about her parents and her sister and they sound lovely – though he notices that her smile, while genuine, seems to become a little brittle around the edges when she talks about them.  
He doesn't meet her sister at first. She goes to some kind of elite boarding school for most of the year. A boarding school Petunia never attended and something about that doesn't sit right with Vernon. There's a story there.  
He meets her parents though. They are lovely people, if maybe a bit distant and seem to be happy for him and their daughter.

He meets Lily when he is nineteen. She is the fifteen year old teenage sister of his girlfriend and he can admit that he isn't all that excited about meeting her. Still, he can see what Petunia has been talking about. Lily's eyes sparkle, her smile shines and everything seems to revolve around her. Like planets that cannot help but be drawn to the sun. Her parents dote on her and are altogether less distant and a lot more proud.  
Lily is also kind and cheerful and everything Petunia has told him about her. And she knows it, expects it. He doesn't think that she is selfish or cruel. But at the same time he is sure that she has never been on the other side of that situation. Has never felt the shadows attention can cast.  
After their meeting he thinks that maybe he understands why there is always _something_ weird about the way Petunia talks about her sister.

Over the years Petunia receives letters from Lily. They learn that she had a falling out with her childhood best friend Severus Snape.  
A few months later another letter tells them that she has a boyfriend now – one James Potter. Petunia reads that letter three times and then stares at it for a while. Her expression twists into something Vernon doesn't recognize.  
“She hated him.” Petunia tells him “Called him a spoiled arrogant prat and a bully.”  
They both sit in silence for a bit while Petunia processes.  
“He must have changed.” she decides finally. But for the rest of the day she seems pensive.  
Later she tells him that James Potter's favorite victim had been Severus. The boy who grew up with them. Lily's best friend. Though apparently a bad fight had been enough to break that friendship.  
“It might have been more than that.” Petunia says “It's not like I know everything that goes on in that school. And I never liked Severus anyway.”  
It doesn't change the fact that Lily's new boyfriend is the same person who has bullied her best friend for years.  
When they go to bed that night, Petunia is still quiet. It is the first time in literally ever that she feels sympathy for Severus Snape.

They marry. He is twenty-one, Petunia twenty and maybe that's a bit early but they love each other.  
Petunia's sister attends the wedding but Vernon doesn't really talk to her. He does notice that there is something different about her. Her smiles seem more strained now.

He learns about magic three days after they come back from their honeymoon.  
Petunia tells him about the things Lily has always been able to do, how she met Severus Snape and about the letter from Hogwarts. Her lips twist in remembered bitterness.  
It all sound very unbelievable but Petunia isn't the type to make something like this up and Vernon remembers Lily. Remembers the self assured way she smiles and moves, like there is some secret only she is privy to. Things fall into place.  
Their parent's quiet pride in their younger daughter, the way Lily's eyes literally shine with an inexplicable light, Petunia's mixed feelings in regard to her sister.  
“Everybody is special.” Petunia says and believes it. “With some people it is simply a bit more obvious than with others.”  
Privately Vernon thinks that Petunia is probably kinder than Lily can ever dream of being.

They are invited to Lily's own wedding only a year later. By that time Vernon knows about the war that is brewing in the wizarding world and he understands that this is why the wedding is such a quiet affair.  
Other than them there are Petunia's parents, James' three best friends, someone named Alice Longbottom and her husband and the wizard equivalent of a marriage officiant.  
After the ceremony James and his friends seem to find it funny to prank Vernon. The black haired one – Sirius – turns into a giant dog and chases Vernon around _for fun_. It gets out of hand when Vernon trips over something and lands in the wedding cake. Lily seems unhappy, but Petunia is furious. She grabs Vernon and pulls him toward the exit.  
“You were right!” she hisses at her sister “They are entitled, immature bullies – your _husband_ and his friends.”  
When he looks back, he sees Lily's face twist in something that might be guilt but there is also a stubborn light in her eyes.  
After that, there is one letter of apology and then nothing.

Petunia's parents die in a car crash one and a half year later. Lily and her husband are at the funeral. Her baby bump is clearly visible under Lily's dress. She isn't quite as far along as Petunia.  
She tells them that the war has taken a turn for the worse and that they are going to go into hiding soon. No more words are exchanged.  
That is the last time Vernon ever sees Lily.

Twenty months later, they wake up one morning to find their nephew on their doorstep. Together with a letter that explains that Petunia's sister is dead.

~ o ~

Dudley Dursley is three years old when he understands that his cousin is special. He probably knew before then, must have, really. But he remembers being three years old, his cousin and him both sitting on their play-mat. They are playing with building blocks and the only one missing is the red one that is shaped like a roof. It still sits on the highest shelf in the living room from when Dudley threw it there three days ago and then forgot to tell Mommy to please get it back down for them.  
Dudley is just about to climb the shelf when Harry lifts his hands and the block comes soaring through the air. Dudley frowns. Things never do that for him. Though they mostly do for his cousin.  
Later, when he asks Mommy, she sits them both down at the dinner table and has a Serious Talk with them.  
Harry has magic, she tells them. It is a talent he was born with, like how Courtney from down the street can already read although she is only three like them. Because she was born Very Intelligent.  
Harry has his magic because his parents had magic as well. Sometimes people with magic have parents without magic, like Dudley's aunt. But it is rare and Dudley is probably not one of them.  
Harry's magic is a special talent, but it is also a secret. Dudley gets to know the secret because he is family, but others can't know. Harry has to be a bit careful and try not to use his magic when they are outside. Dudley can help him with that.

Dudley is disappointed that he can't do the cool things that Harry can, but Mommy smiles at him that smile that makes Dudley feel giddy and warm and tells him, that she understands, but that everybody has their own talents. And Dudley will find his own. Just like Harry has other talents than his magic.

In the years that come, Dudley learns it's important to his Mommy that he is respectful to people, even if others aren't.  
Sometimes children are mean to each other. Like to Benny who they meet in kindergarten and who cannot speak properly. The teachers seem a bit frustrated with Benny sometimes even if they still scold the children that make fun of him.  
“Almost everybody can speak at your age.” Mommy tells Dudley and Harry “So because Benny cannot, the other children start to think they are better than him. Don't judge people too quickly you two. Benny cannot speak quite like other children, but maybe he is really kind or really good at drawing. You can never know.”  
It turns out that Benny isn't very good at drawing, but he doesn't hesitate to share his lunch with Dudley and Harry when theirs accidentally gets dirty.  
Dudley thinks he understands what Mommy was trying to say.

He is six and one boy on the playground is in a wheelchair and his hands flop around in the air uncontrollably. Some other kids make fun of him but Dudley goes to protect him.  
“He is just special!” he tells them, certain in his knowledge in a way only a child can be and doesn't back down. His mother's smile is proud. “That is something you are good at Dudley.” she tells him “You can empathize with people. My sensitive little boy.”  
And in the evening his father ruffles his hair. “Your mother is the same.” he says and Dudley could burst from pride.

They're eight when Dudley's mother has The Talk with them. (The Talk means something different in the Dursley household than it does in the rest of the world. The Other Talk will come later and is completely Vernon's responsibility.)  
She tells them about a boy and a girl who both had magic like Harry and another girl who didn't. She talks about bullies and a war and love. And death.  
She doesn't go into detail yet, because they are both too young, but Harry deserves to know more about the world he comes from. And Dudley should learn about his aunt.  
His mother tells them that Harry is a celebrity in his world, which means that everybody knows his name, because that night his parents died, and Harry didn't. It means that Harry will have to be careful when he enters the wizarding world.  
Dudley doesn't completely understand and Harry doesn't either. But that's okay, his mother says, they will when they are older.

Dudley loves his cousin. Even though he is special in a way Dudley will never be. In school teachers take notice of Dudley's smart cousin and sometimes Dudley can feel them look at him like they can't believe they are related. Because as it turns out Dudley is strong and likes helping people but he isn't very smart. And he would be jealous. But.  
But Harry is also kind and cheerful and everybody likes him.  
“Like Lily.” says Dudley's mother.  
Harry's best friend is Dudley and Harry always helps him when Dudley doesn't get something in school. And encourages Dudley when he starts boxing and agrees that Dudley is more empathetic and more sociable and Harry never looks down on him.  
“Like your aunt.”, says Dudley's father to Harry. It might be the best compliment he can give.  
And Dudley thinks he has the best cousin in the world.

They know that Harry will be going to Hogwarts once he is eleven. And they both dread it a little. Harry is smaller that Dudley and less confrontational. And people in the wizarding world think they know Harry even though they have never met him. Dudley is the one who grew up with Harry, he knows that Harry is kind and smart and can run really fast. But he is still like all the other children. Even with his magic. And they agree that Harry shouldn't be famous for something he doesn't remember and that means his parents are dead.  
_And who will look after his cousin when he isn't there?_  
But whenever Dudley voices his concerns, Harry only smiles at him with that bright smile of his and his unnaturally green eyes sparkle with mischief.  
“It will be okay Dud.” he says “I will be fine. After all,” and he winks “I have learned from the best.”

~ o ~

Harry Potter grows up loved.  
He has the best family in the world. An aunt, an uncle and a cousin who love him. He grows up with stories about parents who weren't perfect but loved him very much.  
When he's eleven he will receive a letter from Hogwarts and will be away from home for most of the year. But he will always visit over the holidays.  
He dreams of getting into Hufflepuff, because his aunt has told him about the houses and what they mean. Hufflepuff is where loyalty and hard work count the most and Harry thinks that he would like to be seen as loyal and hardworking. But in the end he will do his best wherever he goes. He knows that every house and every person has their own merit.

And every year on Christmas, they go to a piano recital. They listen as people, young and old and from all over the world, get together and speak in a language everybody can understand.  
“Because music inspires people.” aunt Petunia says and her words hold a secret that one day, Harry wants to understand. When the music stops, aunt Petunia pulls them both close and whispers that she loves them. She looks at them, pride in her eyes.  
And she smiles.


End file.
